Well, I learned a real lesson in saving your work while working on the internet! I typed a long, detailed description of the last 3 fun-filled days here, clicked “submit” and the whole thing disappeared, never again to be seen. This is now a repeat, this time typed on my laptop and saved first to flashdisc. Some of the details may be a bit “sketchy” since I’ll think that I already typed them. (I did)
We are really tired today. The combination of heavy schedule and ever-changing areas of responsibility has proved to be quite a challenge. Medical work in a densely populated village where basic medical knowledge is pretty much absent is very difficult as well. Reaching the houses of some of the sick people can be a real challenge. We walked probably 8 miles today, most of it uphill (I know, I know. We started and ended in the same place – so what if it doesn’t make sense, my legs tell me it was all uphill). We treated about 30 patients with a variety of problems – it is difficult to treat without any ability to test and barely the ability to do a decent exam. But the practical gospel of Jesus Christ was being preached in every act of kindness, and we had opportunities to pray in several houses on the way. While attending us and translating, I believe that the pastors are getting some firsthand training in handling certain of the common medical conditions here, and we will continue this for the rest of the week.
Saturday was amazing. We arrived at the property at 8:00 AM, and were amazed to find that, for once, every pastor was on time. I’m sure it was that the wives were involved, and were SO excited to be going to the Game Refuge together. All six pastors, their 5 wives or wives-to-be, one of the church elders, and 5 small children, with our family, all loaded onto a 3-to flatbed truck and headed south, down to Chicwawa for the day. The singing was constant for the entire 2-hour drive. We sang in town, in the country, sang our way down off the plateau, and kept the songs all the way to Longwe National Park. The animals were sparse and it was very hot, but spirits were high and it was a great time. The kids required hosed down a couple of times due to the heat (small kids, not Erika & Liz). A highlight of the trip was Frank Mine falling asleep with his head on the lap of Aubrey on the way back, while Aubrey was deep in conversation about his fiancée and the provision of the Lord. One thing is for certain, our 52-year-old tailbones were not well suited to 7 hours on a flatbed truck. We are SOOORE.
Sunday was a good day. We went to church, sang some powerful worship songs, Erika & Liz did a couple of special numbers by request while I played guitar and sang along a bit (my voice is still not back to normal yet); Frank Gama gave a mini-sermon on Jeremiah’s call and the need for listening to the voice of God when He speaks; Frank Mine gave a sermon on Lamentations 3, God’s mercies being new every morning, but he used the opportunity to move to an evangelistic message, then a message on the need for witnessing, then on the need for a renewed mind as a Christian. I was then asked to speak briefly – I thought that Frank pretty much covered it all… but gave a warning about overemphasis on one member of the Trinity to the exclusion of others – the tendency is to focus on Jesus, since he tends to be soft and warm; or on the Holy Spirit, since He is regarded as the source of power, a power desperately desired in this culture of disease, early death, and poverty. I tried to show how this emphasis on the 2nd and 3rd persons of the Trinity actually led to weakness and instability, since the concepts of the New Testament regarding the Son and the Spirit are firmly rooted in the Old Testament stories which describe the nature and character of Jehovah, God as a single entity, and that this forms the foundation on which Jesus’ teachings are built, and without which we cannot understand the love of Christ or the power of the Holy Spirit fully. When Christ is preached without this foundation, the tendency is for the hearer to accept Christ, simply to add Him to a pantheon of other beliefs, ending up with a powerless, syncretistic belief that does not change the lives of “believers” and therefore cannot change the culture. This offers an explanation for why the gospel has been preached here for 150 years, countless dollars have been poured into the country, but still the AIDS prevalence rate continues to rise, approaching 80% in Zomba! What the country needs is foundational teaching, similar to the NewTribes approach that Pastor Gianeskis taught to the youth last year – using Old Testament storytelling to describe God in an easily transmitted way, placing the gospel of Christ on the foundation of the OT.
I will be using the blog to transmit specific data over the next few days regarding details of the trip, as this seems to be a good way to save this data and disseminate it. We will be visiting a number of ministries here in the meantime.
More soon…
Rick & Wanda & girls
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Friday, April 13, 2007
A very busy week
Wow! I am overwhelmed with the number of important events of the last 4 days! Monday, the target day for numerous government offices. We had a very favorable response from the Office of Social Welfare - I think they were kind of steamrolled by the letter that was written. The District Manager was in the office, he received the letter and promised a quick response. We went to the Water Board, the Electrical supply company, the tax revenue board, the land title office, the traffic bureau to register the truck, the insurance office to purchase insurance on the truck, then back to the Social Welfare department to drop off phone numbers for them to reach us. We picked up medications from a local pharmacy needed for some visits that were made, visited a copy store, laminated the registration and insurance documents, and then sent Frank to join the men getting bricks. At the end of the day, we went to the property and met with the contractors to discuss some proposals they had given us. It was an amazing day, during which time we also had opportunity to speak to the previous truck owner about his spiritual need. We are thinking that perhaps he is set aside for salvation, as much as the Lord has given us contact with him...
By Tuesday morning, the only thing that hadn't been dealt with was the water board issue. We paid 8 months ago for water to be brought to the property, and still hadn't had any effort made to install the lines. We dedicated the morning to solving the issue, waited fro 2.5 hours for the representative to show up. He came to the property, told us that, if we found the main line and dug the trench, that he could have water for us the same day, as long as we gave him 2500 Kwacha (about $15) to buy a few needed supplies. We gave him the money, dug the dirch, and had water by the end of the day!! This official came cheaper than most. We went to Nkolokoti (proper spelling - previous reports were misspelled) to make medical visits on Wednesday, and were, once again, mobbed by needy folks, to the point of having to cut off and leave. We were able to minister to about 50 people there before the crowd pressed too tightly for comfort, and I was coming down with a respiratory infection by then, so it made the whole situation worse. We were dog-tired after the long climb and the intense medical needs. We visited the homes of several of the church members, WAY UP on the mountain, and were able to pray with them. Food has now been provided for 10 of the familes and 10 other orphans in Nkolokoti as well as the medicines. We rode 6-in-the-car to this event, the traffic police stopped our car and were very hostile to our driver for overloading his vehicle (not to mention that minibuses carry 23-24 persons down the same road every day). Evidently they were waiting for us to leave so that they could ask the driver for a bribe, and were irritated that I was staying there trying to help him get off the hook! 1000 Kwacha from Adam apparently made them able to forget the traffic violation. I didn't know anything about this at the time, but Adam told me later about it. We bought 2 officials in the same day! It is a way of life here.
We had an excellent conference this morning with the pastors and their wives. They had a time of very sincere praise and fun singing and dancing, followed by teachings on the need for rebuilding foundations of ethics, family, proper treatment of women, and Christian relationships. My voice, shaky at the beginning, was nearly completely gone by the end of the 2-hour teaching, and I was totally drained, but, praise to the Lord, I made it through, and I believe that the foundation work was very profitable and well-received. There will be a lot of interesting conversations between the spouses over the next few days. Perhaps the most powerful moment was this: There is a custom in Malawi that, if the husband dies, the husband's family has a right to come in and take whatever they want, leaving the wife with nothing. Using the oneness in marriage teaching of John Fichtner from Matthew 19 and Genesis 1-3, I showed the couples how evil and divisive this custom is, how it devalues women, how God considers them one, and that God made man and woman equal in the Garden of Eden, that the image of God is reflected in both together - so that it is not just imposing American ideas of womanhood on another culture, but trying to bring them back to God's ideal in the Garden. I charged each of the men to let their entire family know that they were not to take any of their wives property if they were to die, and charged each of the couples to rise in defense of the widows, move into their houses for a time to protect them from this great evil. The custom itself is just a symptom of how women are treated here. The men understood well, and the interaction with the couples after the session was amazing. The women felt so honored and liberated, it was great to be there. We will be taking all of the pastors and their families on a day trip to Majete Game Reserve tomorrow, all loaded on the back of the new truck. They are all very excited. The women in particular love the attention.
The project is on track, we have made our first purchase of cement at the much lower price, and, although we were thwarted on sevaral fronts by red tape, we succeeded in getting 240 bags delivered to the property yesterday. The men are fatigued from the constant work schedule, and I believe that they are looking forward greatly to the break tomorrow. 2 cement mixers are being rented, and the foundation should be poured by Monday. Brickwork for the substructure will be next. The snake attorney for the land purchase has given us a bill for services, greatly inflated (as you might expect, the "azungu factor"). We are still discussing how to handle this, as he has a document that is very important to us.
Last night, we paid a visit to the YWAM base in Cigumula, about 30 km from Blantyre, and met a number of very interesting characters. It was as if the Lord had orchestrated the whole thing (imagine that!!), with people responsible for 2 different orphanages just dropping in at the base leaders' house unannounced, with no knowledge of our being there. What a contrast - one of the orphanages is 2.5 hours away by car, with huge medical needs and no hospitals nearby, begging for help with medical care at the facility. The other was the "best orphanage in Malawi", the one visited by Madonna when she was adopting. They have excellent facilities anmd a swimming pool to boot. The ladies who came from this orphanage had been given an opportunity for 1 hour to present the gospel message to Madonna and her entourage, and they seized the opportunity. The contrast between the well-funded orphanage there in Cigumula and the baby home tended by the other missionary couple was stunning - again a reflection of the incredible inequities, even in the country itself.
More than that, the base leadres were also amazing, discussing a whole new approach they have been taking, based on the New Tribes experience in Papua/New Guinea - utilizing volunteer pastor/elders in home churches, one-on-one discipleship for extended periods of time to enable restructuring the missing foundations in the culture, and story-telling. I was struck by the similarities between this approach and that advocated for the post-modern generation. I really can see how the emphasis on Jesus, and particularly on the Holy Spirit as a power-generator, without the foundation of the character of the Father as displayed in the Old Testament, is harmful, and leaves open the door to syncretism, where the believers will just add Christ to their own religions - generally witchcraft or a witchcraft-Moslem mix in this culture. We heard incredible stories of demonic activity fueled by the witchcraft rituals and herbal remedies used throughout Malawi. I understood better about some troubling dreams I have had since I was here, and even Shawn had reported a similar occurrence during our January trip. We have no fear, because "He that is in us is greater than he that is in the world", but our spiritual senses are being honed while here. We have a great deal of information to process, but that will occur mostly on our return to the States.
Finances are holding up real well here, most of the projects are coming in at- or under-budget, but there is much to be done, and some of the later stages are more material-intensive, which will be more expensive and less predictable than what we have run into thus far. The need is here, we have been encouraged by those who are running these other orphanages to just go ahead and build, get the orphanage running, even if the official government channels are behind on their part. The biggest piece of advice given thus far is to GO SLOW, gradually increasing the number oorphans, paying close attention to careful staff selection and training, since the staff can bring disaster so easily to a project, either by abuse issues or by bringing witchcraft syncretism and inappropriate practices into the orphanage. They all were uniformly agreed that the staff would be the hardest and the most dangerous to provide in good quality, and that trying to provide staff rapidly for a rapidly expanding project would be deadly to the project.
On a different note, we have been informed that the need for orphanages in Zomba, a nearby city, FAR EXCEEDS the need in Ndirende. Blantyre is the second largest city in Malawi, and gets a disproportionate amount of attention. Outlying areas like Zomba get little or no attention. We have been asked by several different people if we are considering going to Zomba to help there. Who knows what the Lord is up to?
I knnow well that I have left out many important details, it is hard to get the time to report in a timely fashion when so much is going on. My chest cold has forced me to take the afternoon off, which is why I can respond today. I am feei\ling a bit better now, particularly since I don't have to talk (aka squeak) while typing. Pardon my grammar and spelling, I am so full of things that I can't go back and correct.
We love you all.
Rick & Wanda
By Tuesday morning, the only thing that hadn't been dealt with was the water board issue. We paid 8 months ago for water to be brought to the property, and still hadn't had any effort made to install the lines. We dedicated the morning to solving the issue, waited fro 2.5 hours for the representative to show up. He came to the property, told us that, if we found the main line and dug the trench, that he could have water for us the same day, as long as we gave him 2500 Kwacha (about $15) to buy a few needed supplies. We gave him the money, dug the dirch, and had water by the end of the day!! This official came cheaper than most. We went to Nkolokoti (proper spelling - previous reports were misspelled) to make medical visits on Wednesday, and were, once again, mobbed by needy folks, to the point of having to cut off and leave. We were able to minister to about 50 people there before the crowd pressed too tightly for comfort, and I was coming down with a respiratory infection by then, so it made the whole situation worse. We were dog-tired after the long climb and the intense medical needs. We visited the homes of several of the church members, WAY UP on the mountain, and were able to pray with them. Food has now been provided for 10 of the familes and 10 other orphans in Nkolokoti as well as the medicines. We rode 6-in-the-car to this event, the traffic police stopped our car and were very hostile to our driver for overloading his vehicle (not to mention that minibuses carry 23-24 persons down the same road every day). Evidently they were waiting for us to leave so that they could ask the driver for a bribe, and were irritated that I was staying there trying to help him get off the hook! 1000 Kwacha from Adam apparently made them able to forget the traffic violation. I didn't know anything about this at the time, but Adam told me later about it. We bought 2 officials in the same day! It is a way of life here.
We had an excellent conference this morning with the pastors and their wives. They had a time of very sincere praise and fun singing and dancing, followed by teachings on the need for rebuilding foundations of ethics, family, proper treatment of women, and Christian relationships. My voice, shaky at the beginning, was nearly completely gone by the end of the 2-hour teaching, and I was totally drained, but, praise to the Lord, I made it through, and I believe that the foundation work was very profitable and well-received. There will be a lot of interesting conversations between the spouses over the next few days. Perhaps the most powerful moment was this: There is a custom in Malawi that, if the husband dies, the husband's family has a right to come in and take whatever they want, leaving the wife with nothing. Using the oneness in marriage teaching of John Fichtner from Matthew 19 and Genesis 1-3, I showed the couples how evil and divisive this custom is, how it devalues women, how God considers them one, and that God made man and woman equal in the Garden of Eden, that the image of God is reflected in both together - so that it is not just imposing American ideas of womanhood on another culture, but trying to bring them back to God's ideal in the Garden. I charged each of the men to let their entire family know that they were not to take any of their wives property if they were to die, and charged each of the couples to rise in defense of the widows, move into their houses for a time to protect them from this great evil. The custom itself is just a symptom of how women are treated here. The men understood well, and the interaction with the couples after the session was amazing. The women felt so honored and liberated, it was great to be there. We will be taking all of the pastors and their families on a day trip to Majete Game Reserve tomorrow, all loaded on the back of the new truck. They are all very excited. The women in particular love the attention.
The project is on track, we have made our first purchase of cement at the much lower price, and, although we were thwarted on sevaral fronts by red tape, we succeeded in getting 240 bags delivered to the property yesterday. The men are fatigued from the constant work schedule, and I believe that they are looking forward greatly to the break tomorrow. 2 cement mixers are being rented, and the foundation should be poured by Monday. Brickwork for the substructure will be next. The snake attorney for the land purchase has given us a bill for services, greatly inflated (as you might expect, the "azungu factor"). We are still discussing how to handle this, as he has a document that is very important to us.
Last night, we paid a visit to the YWAM base in Cigumula, about 30 km from Blantyre, and met a number of very interesting characters. It was as if the Lord had orchestrated the whole thing (imagine that!!), with people responsible for 2 different orphanages just dropping in at the base leaders' house unannounced, with no knowledge of our being there. What a contrast - one of the orphanages is 2.5 hours away by car, with huge medical needs and no hospitals nearby, begging for help with medical care at the facility. The other was the "best orphanage in Malawi", the one visited by Madonna when she was adopting. They have excellent facilities anmd a swimming pool to boot. The ladies who came from this orphanage had been given an opportunity for 1 hour to present the gospel message to Madonna and her entourage, and they seized the opportunity. The contrast between the well-funded orphanage there in Cigumula and the baby home tended by the other missionary couple was stunning - again a reflection of the incredible inequities, even in the country itself.
More than that, the base leadres were also amazing, discussing a whole new approach they have been taking, based on the New Tribes experience in Papua/New Guinea - utilizing volunteer pastor/elders in home churches, one-on-one discipleship for extended periods of time to enable restructuring the missing foundations in the culture, and story-telling. I was struck by the similarities between this approach and that advocated for the post-modern generation. I really can see how the emphasis on Jesus, and particularly on the Holy Spirit as a power-generator, without the foundation of the character of the Father as displayed in the Old Testament, is harmful, and leaves open the door to syncretism, where the believers will just add Christ to their own religions - generally witchcraft or a witchcraft-Moslem mix in this culture. We heard incredible stories of demonic activity fueled by the witchcraft rituals and herbal remedies used throughout Malawi. I understood better about some troubling dreams I have had since I was here, and even Shawn had reported a similar occurrence during our January trip. We have no fear, because "He that is in us is greater than he that is in the world", but our spiritual senses are being honed while here. We have a great deal of information to process, but that will occur mostly on our return to the States.
Finances are holding up real well here, most of the projects are coming in at- or under-budget, but there is much to be done, and some of the later stages are more material-intensive, which will be more expensive and less predictable than what we have run into thus far. The need is here, we have been encouraged by those who are running these other orphanages to just go ahead and build, get the orphanage running, even if the official government channels are behind on their part. The biggest piece of advice given thus far is to GO SLOW, gradually increasing the number oorphans, paying close attention to careful staff selection and training, since the staff can bring disaster so easily to a project, either by abuse issues or by bringing witchcraft syncretism and inappropriate practices into the orphanage. They all were uniformly agreed that the staff would be the hardest and the most dangerous to provide in good quality, and that trying to provide staff rapidly for a rapidly expanding project would be deadly to the project.
On a different note, we have been informed that the need for orphanages in Zomba, a nearby city, FAR EXCEEDS the need in Ndirende. Blantyre is the second largest city in Malawi, and gets a disproportionate amount of attention. Outlying areas like Zomba get little or no attention. We have been asked by several different people if we are considering going to Zomba to help there. Who knows what the Lord is up to?
I knnow well that I have left out many important details, it is hard to get the time to report in a timely fashion when so much is going on. My chest cold has forced me to take the afternoon off, which is why I can respond today. I am feei\ling a bit better now, particularly since I don't have to talk (aka squeak) while typing. Pardon my grammar and spelling, I am so full of things that I can't go back and correct.
We love you all.
Rick & Wanda
Monday, April 9, 2007
Tuesday update, April 10th
Sorry about some of the repetition from previous posts - I'm kind of psyched for my day today.
Hello again! We are past the midpoint of our time in Malawi, and have shifted our emphasis to overall preparation for the future here. We had an interesting day on Saturday and Sunday morning – really kinda normal! We came home Saturday from working much of the day, saw a monkey crossing the road, had a complete power outage – sort of an evening ritual here. The laptop was fully charged, so we went into our dark room and watched the “Count of Monte Cristo”, then played hand & foot and went to bed. The power came on conveniently right at the end of the movie, so we had the fan for the night. We got up Easter morning, ate breakfast, and went to church in Ndirende – a delightful service full of worship and powerful preaching from Frank Mine. Watching Frank M. preach while Frank Gama translates is one of the most fascinating spectacles on the planet, with Frank copying every move of Frank (and Frank moves a lot when he preaches). But the best of all was little 2-year-old Luke Mine, Frank’s son, walking around the podium making gestures like his daddy during the preaching. He finally sat down, but not before everyone was thoroughly entertained. Frank2 went right on preaching as if he wasn’t there. (Frank2 is what everyone calls Frank & Frank when one preaches and the other translates)
So far, the monkey count is up to 6. Liz and I saw a tree full of monkeys when we went to visit Tendai at her home in Mpemba, and Wanda & I saw one crossing the road by the hotel.
We have had several good opportunities for 1-on-1 relationship building in the last few days. Miles Adam, our cab driver for the last several trips, did come to the church service, and we went to his home for the afternoon. No matter how small the house, they all have a living room with plenty of chairs and couches crowded around – evidently entertaining is a really big deal here. We met much of the family, Liz drew a picture, and we came home for the rest of the day. Today, 2 loads of bricks were located and brought to the property. Wanda, the girls and I went to the home of Asif, Randy’s good Moslem friend, and had a good visit. Wanda was able to challenge him about the depth of his sharing ability with his wife, something that would benefit both of them to work on. Asif, who is used to managing others, was very receptive to this suggestion, or at least receptive to talking further about it. This family seems ready to listen further, and I feel that Randy will have good opportunities for discussion with them next month. We have had 2 more good contacts with Rhoda, and we will continue to cultivate this relationship. Wanda and I have had a lot of experience with people who are moving into last stages of life, and Wanda is particularly strong in her teachings on the eternal perspective. Rhoda has 2 little ones that she is caring for, and we are praying that she can see the orphanage through to completion, helping to establish it – and perhaps, God willing, she can see the provision of a place for her parenting job to be carried on.
We have been reminded a couple of times by our circumstances that we are in a foreign country. We have struggled with internet access, and, when it goes down here, nothing will bring it back up – you can’t just reboot. Also, there have been 2 occasions where people have made actual threatening gestures to us in the last 2 days. If you consider that we have run into 3-4000 people here, that’s a low percentage, but it is nonetheless a bit disconcerting. There is a high rate of alcoholism here, they sell a rot-gut homemade brew for very little that is nasty but effective in releasing the inner self – and that’s often not very nice…
We have received some quotes on placing caps on the wall and on finishing installing the gates, as well as quotes on finishing the ditch around the property needed for proper drainage. The quotes are all pretty reasonable, and the work needs to be done – so we are inclined to take them. The pouring of the footers depends on an inspection tomorrow – but I don’t anticipate any problems – the footers are really very well set out. If all goes well, we will be pouring all day Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. Tomorrow is a major day full of meetings with government officials on several fronts, as described in the previous blog. I have completed a 4-page letter of request to the Office of Social welfare, basically assuring them of our intent to follow their philosophy as long as it doesn’t interfere with our mandate to serve God with our facility.
We have also been considering the need for longer-term housing for mission efforts here, at least until the missionary house is built in the next phase of our construction. Grace Bandawe is reasonable for short-term trips, but our 2 rooms are costing us 270,000 Kwacha for the month – and a reasonably nice 3-bedroom house in a secured community can be rented for 70-80,000 per month. It may be worthwhile, if we can find a house near the property, to consider rental. We are looking into this casually.
Otherwise, these next 1.5 weeks will be spent visiting hospitals, other orphanages, and holding some very important meetings with the pastors and their wives. We have secured a small conference room for the meeting this Friday, and are talking it up with all the pastors and their wives. Pray for freedom from the Spirit in this critical morning session. We want to continue to encourage absolute ethics for these men. With it, we feel that the facility will explode with God’s blessing. Without it, we will face problems that will poison the efforts here.
Since the internet is the only available way to communicate, I am reproducing the letter to the Office of Social Welfare after this personal blog so that Randy, Shawn, and the Acts 3 Board can review it and know what is being bandied about…
Wanda is still struggling with her painful swollen glands and tiredness, but is somewhat better. We appreciate your prayers. Erika is completely recovered. We are well. We are also now seasoned barterers in Malawi – and have treasures from the Blantyre market to prove it!
We love you all. Thanks for your concern and care for us. We will respond personally when we are able to pull up e-mail. Wanda is frustrated by our inability to get e-mail right now….
Rick & Wanda
Hello again! We are past the midpoint of our time in Malawi, and have shifted our emphasis to overall preparation for the future here. We had an interesting day on Saturday and Sunday morning – really kinda normal! We came home Saturday from working much of the day, saw a monkey crossing the road, had a complete power outage – sort of an evening ritual here. The laptop was fully charged, so we went into our dark room and watched the “Count of Monte Cristo”, then played hand & foot and went to bed. The power came on conveniently right at the end of the movie, so we had the fan for the night. We got up Easter morning, ate breakfast, and went to church in Ndirende – a delightful service full of worship and powerful preaching from Frank Mine. Watching Frank M. preach while Frank Gama translates is one of the most fascinating spectacles on the planet, with Frank copying every move of Frank (and Frank moves a lot when he preaches). But the best of all was little 2-year-old Luke Mine, Frank’s son, walking around the podium making gestures like his daddy during the preaching. He finally sat down, but not before everyone was thoroughly entertained. Frank2 went right on preaching as if he wasn’t there. (Frank2 is what everyone calls Frank & Frank when one preaches and the other translates)
So far, the monkey count is up to 6. Liz and I saw a tree full of monkeys when we went to visit Tendai at her home in Mpemba, and Wanda & I saw one crossing the road by the hotel.
We have had several good opportunities for 1-on-1 relationship building in the last few days. Miles Adam, our cab driver for the last several trips, did come to the church service, and we went to his home for the afternoon. No matter how small the house, they all have a living room with plenty of chairs and couches crowded around – evidently entertaining is a really big deal here. We met much of the family, Liz drew a picture, and we came home for the rest of the day. Today, 2 loads of bricks were located and brought to the property. Wanda, the girls and I went to the home of Asif, Randy’s good Moslem friend, and had a good visit. Wanda was able to challenge him about the depth of his sharing ability with his wife, something that would benefit both of them to work on. Asif, who is used to managing others, was very receptive to this suggestion, or at least receptive to talking further about it. This family seems ready to listen further, and I feel that Randy will have good opportunities for discussion with them next month. We have had 2 more good contacts with Rhoda, and we will continue to cultivate this relationship. Wanda and I have had a lot of experience with people who are moving into last stages of life, and Wanda is particularly strong in her teachings on the eternal perspective. Rhoda has 2 little ones that she is caring for, and we are praying that she can see the orphanage through to completion, helping to establish it – and perhaps, God willing, she can see the provision of a place for her parenting job to be carried on.
We have been reminded a couple of times by our circumstances that we are in a foreign country. We have struggled with internet access, and, when it goes down here, nothing will bring it back up – you can’t just reboot. Also, there have been 2 occasions where people have made actual threatening gestures to us in the last 2 days. If you consider that we have run into 3-4000 people here, that’s a low percentage, but it is nonetheless a bit disconcerting. There is a high rate of alcoholism here, they sell a rot-gut homemade brew for very little that is nasty but effective in releasing the inner self – and that’s often not very nice…
We have received some quotes on placing caps on the wall and on finishing installing the gates, as well as quotes on finishing the ditch around the property needed for proper drainage. The quotes are all pretty reasonable, and the work needs to be done – so we are inclined to take them. The pouring of the footers depends on an inspection tomorrow – but I don’t anticipate any problems – the footers are really very well set out. If all goes well, we will be pouring all day Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. Tomorrow is a major day full of meetings with government officials on several fronts, as described in the previous blog. I have completed a 4-page letter of request to the Office of Social welfare, basically assuring them of our intent to follow their philosophy as long as it doesn’t interfere with our mandate to serve God with our facility.
We have also been considering the need for longer-term housing for mission efforts here, at least until the missionary house is built in the next phase of our construction. Grace Bandawe is reasonable for short-term trips, but our 2 rooms are costing us 270,000 Kwacha for the month – and a reasonably nice 3-bedroom house in a secured community can be rented for 70-80,000 per month. It may be worthwhile, if we can find a house near the property, to consider rental. We are looking into this casually.
Otherwise, these next 1.5 weeks will be spent visiting hospitals, other orphanages, and holding some very important meetings with the pastors and their wives. We have secured a small conference room for the meeting this Friday, and are talking it up with all the pastors and their wives. Pray for freedom from the Spirit in this critical morning session. We want to continue to encourage absolute ethics for these men. With it, we feel that the facility will explode with God’s blessing. Without it, we will face problems that will poison the efforts here.
Since the internet is the only available way to communicate, I am reproducing the letter to the Office of Social Welfare after this personal blog so that Randy, Shawn, and the Acts 3 Board can review it and know what is being bandied about…
Wanda is still struggling with her painful swollen glands and tiredness, but is somewhat better. We appreciate your prayers. Erika is completely recovered. We are well. We are also now seasoned barterers in Malawi – and have treasures from the Blantyre market to prove it!
We love you all. Thanks for your concern and care for us. We will respond personally when we are able to pull up e-mail. Wanda is frustrated by our inability to get e-mail right now….
Rick & Wanda
Social Welfare Letter
Here's the Social Welfare letter in its entiresty for Shawn, Randy, and the Board to review. The wording is required in Malawi
-Rick
Acts III Global Ministries
P.O. Box 2041; Blantyre, Malawi
Phone # 09432036
April 9, 2007
To: Office of Social Welfare; Blantyre, Malawi
Dear sirs;
This letter is introducing you to Acts 3 Global Ministries, an organization dedicating to demonstrating the gospel of Jesus Christ through formation of Bible-teaching churches in Malawi and caring for widows and orphans in the Blantyre area. Acts 3 Global Ministries has a constitution registered with, and approved by, the government of Malawi with these purposes specified in the document. There are 3 churches in operation, with a total attendance of about 100 persons. 6 Malawian pastors serve these congregations, both on Sundays with preaching and worship, as well as during the week with regular visits and reaching out to the poor in their areas. Church resources are used to provide food and needed medicines for the needy in Ndirende, Chilimba, and Kolokot. During the course of these visits, certain orphans have been identified in each community who are without homes and are at great risk for abuse. The ministry is committed to helping these children as much as possible, and is building a multi-purpose building on Chileka road to be used for the purpose of church meetings, missionary housing, and for short- to medium-term housing for these children at risk. We have read and understood the document “Guidelines for the care, protection and support of orphans and other vulnerable children(OVC)”, and we wholeheartedly agree with the philosophy expressed there. We feel that we can well operate under the guidelines established in this document.
The mission complex, including some orphanage facilities, is being constructed using funds from donations and business operations in the United States, and construction is proceeding using only Malawian laborers and local materials. If the orphanage is allowed to operate, we have made plans to meet all of the needs of its residents as specified in the “Guidelines” document, including:
1. Full nutritional provision using all of the basic food groups, and augmenting the diet with vitamins as appropriate;
2. Full medical coverage using 2 locally trained Malawian nurses, with a physician from Acts 3 in the U.S.A. as an active board member providing medical care and oversight from time to time. Vaccinations will be provided for all residents.
3. Full educational support is a large part of the Acts 3 long-term plan, as we hope to train some of the residents in life skills that will enable them to serve others as they grow. We are employing 1 full-time teacher for every 15-20 children, and have already begun the interviewing and selection process.
4. The psychological and spiritual support to be provided is, of course, a very high priority for such a ministry as this, since we believe that feeding someone physically without feeding them spiritually as well is really not doing them any long-term good. We have already identified one of the local pastors who will be living at the facility and is called to provide spiritual input for the children there. We have a second pastor who is gifted musically, and we anticipate that he will regularly teach the children music and music theory.
5. The safety and security of the children is also provided by a fence and 2 security guards, as well as by the missionaries that will be housed in the facility as well. We will provide accountability to the District Assembly and the Social Welfare Office on a monthly- or 3-monthly basis, as they deem needed.
6. Each child admitted to the facility will be treated as the “Guidelines” suggest, with a written plan for reunification with the extended family and an expected length of stay. We will maintain history books so that family identity is not lost, as much as possible. We do not want to interfere with social structures in the area, but just want to be available for certain children who have already been identified as high-risk OVC, reaching themselves and their families with the life-changing gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, put into action through compassionate intervention.
7. Targeting of the most vulnerable orphans will be done by the pastors, each of which lives in the area of their respective churches. This will be done in conjunction with local community leaders, many of whom were consulted prior to the beginning of the project. As was recommended by the Assistant Director of the Blantyre office of Social Welfare, we have scheduled visits to 3 locally operating orphanages to discuss further these ideas.
8. The operation of this facility in Ndirende will be completely transparent and accountable both to government agencies and to the Trustees of Acts 3 Malawi. The Board of Trustees consists entirely of ordained Malawian ministers, actively preaching and serving in their communities.
9. Prior to the initiation of building efforts, the Board of Directors of Acts 3 Global Ministries in the United States and the Board of Trustees of Acts 3 Global Ministries/Malawi agreed to operate the orphanage within the strictest of guidelines, meeting those established by the constitution and relevant laws of Malawi, and the Convention on the Rights of the Child. We consider these to be the “bare minimum” for treatment, and intend to exceed them.
10. We will not allow any preferential treatment to any child in our facility on the basis of race, gender, HIV sero-status, disability, or state of orphanhood. (8.09)
11. It is our specific purpose, as mentioned above, to train children both in spiritual truths and in practical skills necessary to succeed in an increasingly complex world. We are wanting to train those in our care, encouraging them to pursue higher levels of training in nursing, business, and educational fields, using their time in our facility to enhance these skills to which they may naturally be inclined. (9.12)
As regarding section 10.1 of the guidelines on the registration process, we feel that we have already completed several of the steps, including consulting with some of the community leaders in Ndirende – we continue to seek further input while we are in the building stage. We have selected office bearers, namely the Pastors/Trustees of Acts 3 Global Ministries/Malawi. We have developed and obtained approval of our constitution, a copy of which is attached to this letter. We are building a structure from which the CBO will operate, located just off Chileka Road behind the PTC and Baker’s Paradise in Ndirende. The Ndirende Acts 3 church has moved its meeting place to the St. Jude’s School on the same road in order to be more closely associated with the project site. We therefore feel that, with these items completed or in progress, we are ready to take the next step, which is application for registration to the District Assembly. We do not need this for opening a bank account, as we already have this in place for several years. Our credibility is being established as we follow the path laid out for us by our Lord, who said, “Allow the little children to come to me, and do not forbid them, for of such as these is the kingdom of heaven.”
We readily agree that extended families are the optimal choice for the care of orphans and OVC’s. However, we also agree with section 11.6 which states that “the caring system by the extended family has come to a limit due to stretched household resources and coping mechanisms.” We have seen these resources stretched beyond the breaking point, with very negative consequences in the lives of some of the children served by our church families. In some cases, requests have been made by families that their children be taken care of by their church family if they should die, since the church family can be closer and healthier than the biological family. We want to be in a position to honor these requests.
We are very interested in being available to the foster care system (11.6.2), as long as the wishes of the deceased parents and the child’s own opinions are taken into account, as is expressed in section 11.6, bottom of page 21. Several of us have done foster parenting as part of our roles as community helpers, and can well see the benefits of a well-run foster system. We have also seen negative consequences of hastening to placement, and we feel our facility would be a good intermediate option for stabilizing the child in a healthy, caring, medically and educationally sound environment while such difficult evaluations and decisions are being made. We have no intention of ever participating in any international adoption programs or schemes.
We have reviewed the requirements of section 11.6.5 entitled “Institutional Care”, and are in agreement with the requirements listed there:
1. We are desiring to apply to the Minister of Gender, Child Welfare, and Community Service through the District Assembly, as specified.
2. We will complete an agreement form for each child taken into the orphanage, specifying our plan for that child’s stay, with appropriate reasons.
3. We will follow whatever processes are requested for a certificate of approval for the facility.
4. We will designate an inspection team acceptable to the Social Welfare department to regularly monitor and report the care in the orphanage.
5. We will have safeguards in place to represent the interest and the rights of children in our care.
6. More than accountability to any human agency, we will be held accountable to the Almighty God for our care of these precious ones, and this is the ultimate safeguard for us.
We are asking that you look favorably on this effort to provide care for the children of Ndirende, and allow us to apply for registration before the District Assembly.
Thank you for your consideration.
Rick Thomas, M.D. Director, Acts 3 Global Ministries
-Rick
Acts III Global Ministries
P.O. Box 2041; Blantyre, Malawi
Phone # 09432036
April 9, 2007
To: Office of Social Welfare; Blantyre, Malawi
Dear sirs;
This letter is introducing you to Acts 3 Global Ministries, an organization dedicating to demonstrating the gospel of Jesus Christ through formation of Bible-teaching churches in Malawi and caring for widows and orphans in the Blantyre area. Acts 3 Global Ministries has a constitution registered with, and approved by, the government of Malawi with these purposes specified in the document. There are 3 churches in operation, with a total attendance of about 100 persons. 6 Malawian pastors serve these congregations, both on Sundays with preaching and worship, as well as during the week with regular visits and reaching out to the poor in their areas. Church resources are used to provide food and needed medicines for the needy in Ndirende, Chilimba, and Kolokot. During the course of these visits, certain orphans have been identified in each community who are without homes and are at great risk for abuse. The ministry is committed to helping these children as much as possible, and is building a multi-purpose building on Chileka road to be used for the purpose of church meetings, missionary housing, and for short- to medium-term housing for these children at risk. We have read and understood the document “Guidelines for the care, protection and support of orphans and other vulnerable children(OVC)”, and we wholeheartedly agree with the philosophy expressed there. We feel that we can well operate under the guidelines established in this document.
The mission complex, including some orphanage facilities, is being constructed using funds from donations and business operations in the United States, and construction is proceeding using only Malawian laborers and local materials. If the orphanage is allowed to operate, we have made plans to meet all of the needs of its residents as specified in the “Guidelines” document, including:
1. Full nutritional provision using all of the basic food groups, and augmenting the diet with vitamins as appropriate;
2. Full medical coverage using 2 locally trained Malawian nurses, with a physician from Acts 3 in the U.S.A. as an active board member providing medical care and oversight from time to time. Vaccinations will be provided for all residents.
3. Full educational support is a large part of the Acts 3 long-term plan, as we hope to train some of the residents in life skills that will enable them to serve others as they grow. We are employing 1 full-time teacher for every 15-20 children, and have already begun the interviewing and selection process.
4. The psychological and spiritual support to be provided is, of course, a very high priority for such a ministry as this, since we believe that feeding someone physically without feeding them spiritually as well is really not doing them any long-term good. We have already identified one of the local pastors who will be living at the facility and is called to provide spiritual input for the children there. We have a second pastor who is gifted musically, and we anticipate that he will regularly teach the children music and music theory.
5. The safety and security of the children is also provided by a fence and 2 security guards, as well as by the missionaries that will be housed in the facility as well. We will provide accountability to the District Assembly and the Social Welfare Office on a monthly- or 3-monthly basis, as they deem needed.
6. Each child admitted to the facility will be treated as the “Guidelines” suggest, with a written plan for reunification with the extended family and an expected length of stay. We will maintain history books so that family identity is not lost, as much as possible. We do not want to interfere with social structures in the area, but just want to be available for certain children who have already been identified as high-risk OVC, reaching themselves and their families with the life-changing gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, put into action through compassionate intervention.
7. Targeting of the most vulnerable orphans will be done by the pastors, each of which lives in the area of their respective churches. This will be done in conjunction with local community leaders, many of whom were consulted prior to the beginning of the project. As was recommended by the Assistant Director of the Blantyre office of Social Welfare, we have scheduled visits to 3 locally operating orphanages to discuss further these ideas.
8. The operation of this facility in Ndirende will be completely transparent and accountable both to government agencies and to the Trustees of Acts 3 Malawi. The Board of Trustees consists entirely of ordained Malawian ministers, actively preaching and serving in their communities.
9. Prior to the initiation of building efforts, the Board of Directors of Acts 3 Global Ministries in the United States and the Board of Trustees of Acts 3 Global Ministries/Malawi agreed to operate the orphanage within the strictest of guidelines, meeting those established by the constitution and relevant laws of Malawi, and the Convention on the Rights of the Child. We consider these to be the “bare minimum” for treatment, and intend to exceed them.
10. We will not allow any preferential treatment to any child in our facility on the basis of race, gender, HIV sero-status, disability, or state of orphanhood. (8.09)
11. It is our specific purpose, as mentioned above, to train children both in spiritual truths and in practical skills necessary to succeed in an increasingly complex world. We are wanting to train those in our care, encouraging them to pursue higher levels of training in nursing, business, and educational fields, using their time in our facility to enhance these skills to which they may naturally be inclined. (9.12)
As regarding section 10.1 of the guidelines on the registration process, we feel that we have already completed several of the steps, including consulting with some of the community leaders in Ndirende – we continue to seek further input while we are in the building stage. We have selected office bearers, namely the Pastors/Trustees of Acts 3 Global Ministries/Malawi. We have developed and obtained approval of our constitution, a copy of which is attached to this letter. We are building a structure from which the CBO will operate, located just off Chileka Road behind the PTC and Baker’s Paradise in Ndirende. The Ndirende Acts 3 church has moved its meeting place to the St. Jude’s School on the same road in order to be more closely associated with the project site. We therefore feel that, with these items completed or in progress, we are ready to take the next step, which is application for registration to the District Assembly. We do not need this for opening a bank account, as we already have this in place for several years. Our credibility is being established as we follow the path laid out for us by our Lord, who said, “Allow the little children to come to me, and do not forbid them, for of such as these is the kingdom of heaven.”
We readily agree that extended families are the optimal choice for the care of orphans and OVC’s. However, we also agree with section 11.6 which states that “the caring system by the extended family has come to a limit due to stretched household resources and coping mechanisms.” We have seen these resources stretched beyond the breaking point, with very negative consequences in the lives of some of the children served by our church families. In some cases, requests have been made by families that their children be taken care of by their church family if they should die, since the church family can be closer and healthier than the biological family. We want to be in a position to honor these requests.
We are very interested in being available to the foster care system (11.6.2), as long as the wishes of the deceased parents and the child’s own opinions are taken into account, as is expressed in section 11.6, bottom of page 21. Several of us have done foster parenting as part of our roles as community helpers, and can well see the benefits of a well-run foster system. We have also seen negative consequences of hastening to placement, and we feel our facility would be a good intermediate option for stabilizing the child in a healthy, caring, medically and educationally sound environment while such difficult evaluations and decisions are being made. We have no intention of ever participating in any international adoption programs or schemes.
We have reviewed the requirements of section 11.6.5 entitled “Institutional Care”, and are in agreement with the requirements listed there:
1. We are desiring to apply to the Minister of Gender, Child Welfare, and Community Service through the District Assembly, as specified.
2. We will complete an agreement form for each child taken into the orphanage, specifying our plan for that child’s stay, with appropriate reasons.
3. We will follow whatever processes are requested for a certificate of approval for the facility.
4. We will designate an inspection team acceptable to the Social Welfare department to regularly monitor and report the care in the orphanage.
5. We will have safeguards in place to represent the interest and the rights of children in our care.
6. More than accountability to any human agency, we will be held accountable to the Almighty God for our care of these precious ones, and this is the ultimate safeguard for us.
We are asking that you look favorably on this effort to provide care for the children of Ndirende, and allow us to apply for registration before the District Assembly.
Thank you for your consideration.
Rick Thomas, M.D. Director, Acts 3 Global Ministries
Saturday, April 7, 2007
It's the halfway point!
Hello again! We’ve reached the halfway-point of our stay in Malawi, and, if the second half is nearly as busy as the first half, we’ll be totally spent by our return date to the U.S. We had a strategy meeting with the pastors after our Bible Study this morning, and we will be shifting tactics as of this Easter weekend. The men are moving in fully accountable areas of responsibility, each one handling a different aspect of the project, each with a budget, a ledger to record their work, and a charge to act in the highest possible ethical manner in their dealings with me and with others. We have also given to Rhoda an accounting responsibility, managing the inventory with morning and evening trips down to the property. I have seen this tactic take hold, and am very satisfied with the results.
This morning, at the pastors’ Bible study, we finished Romans 13-16, then I opened the door for a teaching that will be given by Wanda and myself next Friday to a combined group of the pastors and their wives on two areas: 1. How to live in a culture that has valued lying, stealing and begging, using the book of Titus (written to Titus in Crete, full of liars, evil beasts and gluttons –see Titus 1:12). The key is to live uprightly in every way – living self-controlled (ethics within yourself), upright (ethics with others), and godly (ethics with your Master) lives, looking for the appearance of Jesus (maintaining an eternal perspective) – see Titus 2:12 & 13; and 2. Living out the original idea of marriage as found in the post-creation mandate to be totally unified with your mate, that is, valuing, respecting, and holding your mate accountable in a culture that still very much devalues women and downplays the importance of the marriage unit.
Yesterday was a strong day for Wanda, leading a ladies’ Bible study in Kolokot on Romans 12, the kind of life that Christians should lead with each other because of all that God has done for us. There were a good number of women there, and Wanda was pleased that, after she had finished teaching, Esther, one of the pastors’ wives, stood up and strongly admonished the ladies to follow this teaching. We feel that God has placed us here to plant seeds that Randy and then Shawn & Heather will be watering and harvesting.
I went to the bank yesterday (the funds are holding up really well as a result of the work of the pastors in improving efficiency in a number of areas), and, feeling a real heaviness about the contact with the Office of Social Welfare, I took Frank Maini and returned to that office to discuss further. This was an appointment made by the Lord, as the desk lady was gone for the day, and we were ushered into the office of the assistant district minister for the Blantyre area. She had our folder out on her desk when we arrived. She gave the same dim view of the orphanage, but acknowledged the need for more facilities for short-term placement. After she lectured for several minutes on the advantages of extended-family care, she gave us a booklet to review in order to properly complete a letter to be reviewed and passed on to the District Minister and the city assembly, as much as saying that we could apply for a license to operate the orphanage once the letter was completed. I have a photocopy of that booklet, and am preparing a letter that will meet their requirements.
We also went to the Portland Cement factory right there in Ndirende, and got a quote for 50 kg bags of cement at 1189 Kw a bag, even below the other estimate!! We will get it tax-free, and the factory is very near the property, making transport a real snap – 60 bags at a time. Again, this is the single largest expense, and the hand of the Lord in providing this break is very evident. If the truck holds up well, we will come in well under budget for the early phases of this project.
Today, the pastors went to the quarry for more gravel, leaving pastors Elton Jobe & Matthias Komkwani in Chilimba with myself, Wanda, and the girls – to hold medical clinics in the village (and I mean WAY in the village). We bought 15 bags of corn for the church members, then went into 2 different areas, seeing patients and dispensing limited medications, praying for some and trying to comfort others with conditions that could not be treated. We saw skin diseases, numerous ear infections, everyone had stomach problems and headaches, an elderly lady with a pneumonia, walking probably 5 miles on 8-10% grade roads (really just packed sand paths) in and out. Wanda and the girls were prep[aring and dispensing medications while I saw a continuous line of patients. We met the truck returning from a gravel run, then met our taxi friend, Miles Adam, for supper and were able to invite him to church on Sunday.
The project itself has been sitting on hold for the last 2 days, as we are waiting for an inspector from the city to come out and approve the footer pouring. The gate has been purchased, arrangements have been made to finish the last section of wall, put on hold after Grey absconded with the funds, and a better drainage ditch is being dug. I went down in the trench myself to work with a Malawian hoe and shovel in the mid-afternoon, and learned right away the difference between 20-year-old workers and a 52-year old worker. Pretty humbling, but I learned how to lean on a shovel and watch someone else work, so I guess I’m ready for a government road job in the States…
We are seeing the hand of the Lord everywhere we look. The problem we had with Grey apparently stealing money in December was meant by him (and by satan) for evil, but God intended it for good. It has become clear to both Wanda and myself separately that this man has been acting unethically for a fair length of time, and had been eroding the good foundations laid by Randy over the years, to the point that, when I arrived here, no-one was trusting that Acts III would do what it had agreed to. The ladies who bring sand up from the river did not trust us, because they had been burned before. KAMA construction did not trust us. National Bank did not trust us. The whole town evidently knew that this man was going sour long before he made his final move. We are starting fresh with these suppliers and workers, and are in a much better position than we were before. We pray for Grey’s repentance, but we are better off with a new start. If he were to return in repentance at this time, he would be accepted into the fellowship, but not welcomed into the project.
Next Tuesday will be a huge day, as we will be meeting with the title people for the property, the social welfare people (letter in hand), the traffic bureau to finalize truck insurance and licensing, and the Malawi Revenue Authority to finalize the tax-free status. This will be renewable for 6 months, so that it can be in effect for other aspects of the project. We will also be visiting the water board and calling for electrical connection. Pray for favor with each of these steps.
Our last 2 weeks will consist of more contacts with other agencies here, spending time with YWAM Blantyre, spending a morning with Asif’s family, hanging out tomorrow with Tendai and her cousins here at Grace Bandawe, visiting orphanages and dispensing meds and food in Kolokot and Ndirende. We are looking forward to the change.
Let me add a new note of praise for the Lord's protection in a certain matter. One of the girls was approached by a man at Grace Bandawe who claimed to be a Christian writing for a newspaper. The man worked his way into her good graces, then asked her for information on us: e-mail addresses, cell phone numbers, and then was able to get our home phone number in the US and the length of time we would be here. She told us about the man, and, needless to say, I was not happy. I was even less happy when the phone number he gave was not a working number, and that the newspaper he worked for did not have a known local office. We felt that there was a risk to our security at home, since the home number could be used to find our address, so the police were notified, and we asked Sharon to secure our home. I also sent a blasting e-mail to the address given, threatening local police action. Evidently, something drove him out of the woodwork, as he and 2 colleagues showed up at Grace Bandawe the same day, apologizing and describing their collective effort to increase AIDS awareness through the media. We were very relieved to know that he was just a bumbling fund-raiser of the normal Malawian type, rather than a sophisticated information-gatherer. Incidentally, he was a Moslem writer and not a Christian (although he did claim to worship in all churches, Roman Catholic included).
Thank you for your support in prayer and your contacts through e-mail. We love you all.
Rick & Wanda
This morning, at the pastors’ Bible study, we finished Romans 13-16, then I opened the door for a teaching that will be given by Wanda and myself next Friday to a combined group of the pastors and their wives on two areas: 1. How to live in a culture that has valued lying, stealing and begging, using the book of Titus (written to Titus in Crete, full of liars, evil beasts and gluttons –see Titus 1:12). The key is to live uprightly in every way – living self-controlled (ethics within yourself), upright (ethics with others), and godly (ethics with your Master) lives, looking for the appearance of Jesus (maintaining an eternal perspective) – see Titus 2:12 & 13; and 2. Living out the original idea of marriage as found in the post-creation mandate to be totally unified with your mate, that is, valuing, respecting, and holding your mate accountable in a culture that still very much devalues women and downplays the importance of the marriage unit.
Yesterday was a strong day for Wanda, leading a ladies’ Bible study in Kolokot on Romans 12, the kind of life that Christians should lead with each other because of all that God has done for us. There were a good number of women there, and Wanda was pleased that, after she had finished teaching, Esther, one of the pastors’ wives, stood up and strongly admonished the ladies to follow this teaching. We feel that God has placed us here to plant seeds that Randy and then Shawn & Heather will be watering and harvesting.
I went to the bank yesterday (the funds are holding up really well as a result of the work of the pastors in improving efficiency in a number of areas), and, feeling a real heaviness about the contact with the Office of Social Welfare, I took Frank Maini and returned to that office to discuss further. This was an appointment made by the Lord, as the desk lady was gone for the day, and we were ushered into the office of the assistant district minister for the Blantyre area. She had our folder out on her desk when we arrived. She gave the same dim view of the orphanage, but acknowledged the need for more facilities for short-term placement. After she lectured for several minutes on the advantages of extended-family care, she gave us a booklet to review in order to properly complete a letter to be reviewed and passed on to the District Minister and the city assembly, as much as saying that we could apply for a license to operate the orphanage once the letter was completed. I have a photocopy of that booklet, and am preparing a letter that will meet their requirements.
We also went to the Portland Cement factory right there in Ndirende, and got a quote for 50 kg bags of cement at 1189 Kw a bag, even below the other estimate!! We will get it tax-free, and the factory is very near the property, making transport a real snap – 60 bags at a time. Again, this is the single largest expense, and the hand of the Lord in providing this break is very evident. If the truck holds up well, we will come in well under budget for the early phases of this project.
Today, the pastors went to the quarry for more gravel, leaving pastors Elton Jobe & Matthias Komkwani in Chilimba with myself, Wanda, and the girls – to hold medical clinics in the village (and I mean WAY in the village). We bought 15 bags of corn for the church members, then went into 2 different areas, seeing patients and dispensing limited medications, praying for some and trying to comfort others with conditions that could not be treated. We saw skin diseases, numerous ear infections, everyone had stomach problems and headaches, an elderly lady with a pneumonia, walking probably 5 miles on 8-10% grade roads (really just packed sand paths) in and out. Wanda and the girls were prep[aring and dispensing medications while I saw a continuous line of patients. We met the truck returning from a gravel run, then met our taxi friend, Miles Adam, for supper and were able to invite him to church on Sunday.
The project itself has been sitting on hold for the last 2 days, as we are waiting for an inspector from the city to come out and approve the footer pouring. The gate has been purchased, arrangements have been made to finish the last section of wall, put on hold after Grey absconded with the funds, and a better drainage ditch is being dug. I went down in the trench myself to work with a Malawian hoe and shovel in the mid-afternoon, and learned right away the difference between 20-year-old workers and a 52-year old worker. Pretty humbling, but I learned how to lean on a shovel and watch someone else work, so I guess I’m ready for a government road job in the States…
We are seeing the hand of the Lord everywhere we look. The problem we had with Grey apparently stealing money in December was meant by him (and by satan) for evil, but God intended it for good. It has become clear to both Wanda and myself separately that this man has been acting unethically for a fair length of time, and had been eroding the good foundations laid by Randy over the years, to the point that, when I arrived here, no-one was trusting that Acts III would do what it had agreed to. The ladies who bring sand up from the river did not trust us, because they had been burned before. KAMA construction did not trust us. National Bank did not trust us. The whole town evidently knew that this man was going sour long before he made his final move. We are starting fresh with these suppliers and workers, and are in a much better position than we were before. We pray for Grey’s repentance, but we are better off with a new start. If he were to return in repentance at this time, he would be accepted into the fellowship, but not welcomed into the project.
Next Tuesday will be a huge day, as we will be meeting with the title people for the property, the social welfare people (letter in hand), the traffic bureau to finalize truck insurance and licensing, and the Malawi Revenue Authority to finalize the tax-free status. This will be renewable for 6 months, so that it can be in effect for other aspects of the project. We will also be visiting the water board and calling for electrical connection. Pray for favor with each of these steps.
Our last 2 weeks will consist of more contacts with other agencies here, spending time with YWAM Blantyre, spending a morning with Asif’s family, hanging out tomorrow with Tendai and her cousins here at Grace Bandawe, visiting orphanages and dispensing meds and food in Kolokot and Ndirende. We are looking forward to the change.
Let me add a new note of praise for the Lord's protection in a certain matter. One of the girls was approached by a man at Grace Bandawe who claimed to be a Christian writing for a newspaper. The man worked his way into her good graces, then asked her for information on us: e-mail addresses, cell phone numbers, and then was able to get our home phone number in the US and the length of time we would be here. She told us about the man, and, needless to say, I was not happy. I was even less happy when the phone number he gave was not a working number, and that the newspaper he worked for did not have a known local office. We felt that there was a risk to our security at home, since the home number could be used to find our address, so the police were notified, and we asked Sharon to secure our home. I also sent a blasting e-mail to the address given, threatening local police action. Evidently, something drove him out of the woodwork, as he and 2 colleagues showed up at Grace Bandawe the same day, apologizing and describing their collective effort to increase AIDS awareness through the media. We were very relieved to know that he was just a bumbling fund-raiser of the normal Malawian type, rather than a sophisticated information-gatherer. Incidentally, he was a Moslem writer and not a Christian (although he did claim to worship in all churches, Roman Catholic included).
Thank you for your support in prayer and your contacts through e-mail. We love you all.
Rick & Wanda
Wednesday, April 4, 2007
Things are proceeding in Malawi
Well, loads of news to update. Every day brings new answers and new challenges. The Lord is good to us. We have lots of rest time in the evenings, sleep (Wanda & I, that is) from 9:15 PM to about 5 AM, then up for talking, praying, and preparing for the day. The eating is very uniform - mostly cereal & toast for breakfast, little or no lunch, and peanut butter & jelly sandwiches for supper. And walking. LOTS of walking. We are becoming skilled minibus fare negotiators - the prices change with the mood and skin color of the rider. The pastors are amused by us, walking everywhere. Thanks to lots of walking for exercise in the States (where we used to live), we are in good condition for the lifestyle.
Wanda went with Rhoda to the hospital yesterday for some testing, and Wanda and I went there with her today for the results. She does have a chronic wasting-type illness, but is not in the severe stage at this time. She just needs vitamins and a good diet for now. We are very honored to be in a position of supporting her at this time. The hospitals here are unbelievable. My heart is so heavy at this time as I reflect on the experience that Wanda & I had in viewing the Queen Elizabeth public hospital in Blantyre. We went ward-to-ward, and the care was just wretched. Families were washing nasty clothes and sheets in the courtyard areas, other family members were just laying around waiting. The patient care areas were bed-to-bed and full, family members sitting and doing basic nursing care while it appeared that little else was being done. Hopeless looks were everywhere. There was a pediatric intensive care unit where the beds were separated by short 3-foot walls in cubicles barely large enough for the cribs. A few babies had IV's running. Mostly it was just family care. A massive burn patient with severe scarring; Large facial tumors of the Kaposi sarcoma look; Hydrocephalus untreated, so that the babies had huge heads, waiting to stroke & die; tuberculosis wards with patients struggling to breathe bed after bed; a malnutrition clinic surrounded by waiting family members; HIV clinics, with full waiting rooms - it seems that 75% of the people we meet have HIV. I took a camera so that I could share some of this with you, but out of respect for people in this fully miserable spot, I could not take even a single picture. How can we live with this kind of inequality, as if the life of an American is somehow more valuable and salvageable than the thousands of Malawians who could be saved with the same effort? We will be weighed in the balance by the Lord of the Universe. II Corinthians 9 refers to "fairness" that should characterize our financial dealings with others. I can't find any fairness right now.
The project is on a good track. The contractors have made some statements recently that really show how much can be done with ethical standards. They watched as a ridiculous bid was given for a ditch, followed by the pastors jumping in and digging the ditch themselves. They have been paying their own workers, waiting until a stage is entirely done before asking for payment. As a result, the construction is staying on schedule very well. The foundation is dug, and the footers are starting to be poured. The pastors have each been given responsibilities, and asked to own their part of the job, and have responded beautifully. The truck is functioning well, and we are saving transport money every day. Bosco is the main driver, and is taking every part of his job seriously. Frank Gama will be the primary spiritual caretaker at the orphanage, but for now he is working to assist Bosco. Frank Maini is visiting water boards, tax offices, attorneys, title offices, social welfare departments, and has a good mind for all of these things. We have successfully obtained tax-free status for the concrete at the project as a result, which should save us more than 15% of the concrete costs. We can buy directly from the factory at wholesale prices, which will save more. Since we may require 2500 bags of cement for the project, this could amount to a savings of 750,000 Kwacha, or 5000 dollars! Aubrey has been assisting the others and working on the gate purchase, and, by shopping around, has saved a lot on the gate - while preparing for a wedding to be held April 30th between he and Madalo, his bride-to-be. Elton has returned from retrieving his wife and child from the Central territory, and is just a different man now that his family is back. Matthias is not as involved in the orphanage work, but we will be visiting the sick in Chilimba this week still.
Wanda has been blessed with numerous opportunities to minister one-on-one to Madalo and to Rhoda, and has been working with some of the ladies on Thursdays. We have decided to take the bull by the horns with these pastors and their wives. The Malawi culture is built on lies and trickery. The pastors tell partial truths all the time, and the wives are often involved in unintentional (or intentional) Christian gossip. We are planning a series of teachings on absolute ethical standards over the next 2 weeks, hopefully laying a foundation on which Randy and then Shawn can build in this area. This may be the most important thing that we do here. Grey is just a by-product of a culture that has lost ethical footing. He is the hero of this culture, gaming the system. Pray for our efforts in this area.
We have a major hurdle that has come up, and it's a biggie! A God-sized hurdle will test where this project stands in terms of faith and God's purposes. We went to the office of social welfare in Blantyre yesterday, and received a real shock. The main lady in the office there explained to us that the Malawi government no longer wants orphanages to be established. Orphanages, she said, encourage laziness on the part of extended families, and produce children who will not take care of their families in the future, since they were not raised by their own family. We explained the purposes and policies of Acts 3, described the plans, showed the constitution approved by the Malawi officials, drew pictures of the buildings, and showed the philosophy behind the project, using teachers for education, nurses for medical care, and solid feeding care, both physical and spiritual. She was very impressed, and took very careful notes, but said that she could not even begin to give approval for the orphanage. She referred us to the district manager, a person who operates at the Ministry level in the Malawi government, and said that we could meet with him in a couple of weeks. She finally agreed to set up a meeting for us this Monday at 7:30 AM with this district manager. Pray for God's favor with this meeting, as they could refuse the whole project on just a whim. They know the need that is out there, but are following a new policy passed down from the Central Government. If this hurdle is passed, we still have the additional steps of the Blantyre Assembly, 2 local NGO's and the CONGOMA to take, but this evidently is the "gatekeeper" step.
We have determined that our main purpose here will be to focus on the spiritual health of the 6 pastors only. Once they are healthy, they will be in position to focus on their congregations, and then the congregations will be able to spend time on the needs of the communities.
I have left out SO MUCH that has gone on. Hopefully you can get some idea from this rambling...
Thanks for your prayers.
Love to y'all
Rick & Wanda
-oh, and by the way, there will be no pictures in my blog from Malawi because my camers dock requires 110 only. Sorry. I'd like to "dress it up" a bit, but...
Wanda went with Rhoda to the hospital yesterday for some testing, and Wanda and I went there with her today for the results. She does have a chronic wasting-type illness, but is not in the severe stage at this time. She just needs vitamins and a good diet for now. We are very honored to be in a position of supporting her at this time. The hospitals here are unbelievable. My heart is so heavy at this time as I reflect on the experience that Wanda & I had in viewing the Queen Elizabeth public hospital in Blantyre. We went ward-to-ward, and the care was just wretched. Families were washing nasty clothes and sheets in the courtyard areas, other family members were just laying around waiting. The patient care areas were bed-to-bed and full, family members sitting and doing basic nursing care while it appeared that little else was being done. Hopeless looks were everywhere. There was a pediatric intensive care unit where the beds were separated by short 3-foot walls in cubicles barely large enough for the cribs. A few babies had IV's running. Mostly it was just family care. A massive burn patient with severe scarring; Large facial tumors of the Kaposi sarcoma look; Hydrocephalus untreated, so that the babies had huge heads, waiting to stroke & die; tuberculosis wards with patients struggling to breathe bed after bed; a malnutrition clinic surrounded by waiting family members; HIV clinics, with full waiting rooms - it seems that 75% of the people we meet have HIV. I took a camera so that I could share some of this with you, but out of respect for people in this fully miserable spot, I could not take even a single picture. How can we live with this kind of inequality, as if the life of an American is somehow more valuable and salvageable than the thousands of Malawians who could be saved with the same effort? We will be weighed in the balance by the Lord of the Universe. II Corinthians 9 refers to "fairness" that should characterize our financial dealings with others. I can't find any fairness right now.
The project is on a good track. The contractors have made some statements recently that really show how much can be done with ethical standards. They watched as a ridiculous bid was given for a ditch, followed by the pastors jumping in and digging the ditch themselves. They have been paying their own workers, waiting until a stage is entirely done before asking for payment. As a result, the construction is staying on schedule very well. The foundation is dug, and the footers are starting to be poured. The pastors have each been given responsibilities, and asked to own their part of the job, and have responded beautifully. The truck is functioning well, and we are saving transport money every day. Bosco is the main driver, and is taking every part of his job seriously. Frank Gama will be the primary spiritual caretaker at the orphanage, but for now he is working to assist Bosco. Frank Maini is visiting water boards, tax offices, attorneys, title offices, social welfare departments, and has a good mind for all of these things. We have successfully obtained tax-free status for the concrete at the project as a result, which should save us more than 15% of the concrete costs. We can buy directly from the factory at wholesale prices, which will save more. Since we may require 2500 bags of cement for the project, this could amount to a savings of 750,000 Kwacha, or 5000 dollars! Aubrey has been assisting the others and working on the gate purchase, and, by shopping around, has saved a lot on the gate - while preparing for a wedding to be held April 30th between he and Madalo, his bride-to-be. Elton has returned from retrieving his wife and child from the Central territory, and is just a different man now that his family is back. Matthias is not as involved in the orphanage work, but we will be visiting the sick in Chilimba this week still.
Wanda has been blessed with numerous opportunities to minister one-on-one to Madalo and to Rhoda, and has been working with some of the ladies on Thursdays. We have decided to take the bull by the horns with these pastors and their wives. The Malawi culture is built on lies and trickery. The pastors tell partial truths all the time, and the wives are often involved in unintentional (or intentional) Christian gossip. We are planning a series of teachings on absolute ethical standards over the next 2 weeks, hopefully laying a foundation on which Randy and then Shawn can build in this area. This may be the most important thing that we do here. Grey is just a by-product of a culture that has lost ethical footing. He is the hero of this culture, gaming the system. Pray for our efforts in this area.
We have a major hurdle that has come up, and it's a biggie! A God-sized hurdle will test where this project stands in terms of faith and God's purposes. We went to the office of social welfare in Blantyre yesterday, and received a real shock. The main lady in the office there explained to us that the Malawi government no longer wants orphanages to be established. Orphanages, she said, encourage laziness on the part of extended families, and produce children who will not take care of their families in the future, since they were not raised by their own family. We explained the purposes and policies of Acts 3, described the plans, showed the constitution approved by the Malawi officials, drew pictures of the buildings, and showed the philosophy behind the project, using teachers for education, nurses for medical care, and solid feeding care, both physical and spiritual. She was very impressed, and took very careful notes, but said that she could not even begin to give approval for the orphanage. She referred us to the district manager, a person who operates at the Ministry level in the Malawi government, and said that we could meet with him in a couple of weeks. She finally agreed to set up a meeting for us this Monday at 7:30 AM with this district manager. Pray for God's favor with this meeting, as they could refuse the whole project on just a whim. They know the need that is out there, but are following a new policy passed down from the Central Government. If this hurdle is passed, we still have the additional steps of the Blantyre Assembly, 2 local NGO's and the CONGOMA to take, but this evidently is the "gatekeeper" step.
We have determined that our main purpose here will be to focus on the spiritual health of the 6 pastors only. Once they are healthy, they will be in position to focus on their congregations, and then the congregations will be able to spend time on the needs of the communities.
I have left out SO MUCH that has gone on. Hopefully you can get some idea from this rambling...
Thanks for your prayers.
Love to y'all
Rick & Wanda
-oh, and by the way, there will be no pictures in my blog from Malawi because my camers dock requires 110 only. Sorry. I'd like to "dress it up" a bit, but...
Monday, April 2, 2007
Time is flying in Malawi
| Hi to all of you Americans from your Malawi friends ( I guess there are a few Ukranians checking in as well...). So much is happening here, I honestly can't imagine telling it all. Every day is filled with such evidences of God's favor, that I don't know where to start, particularly since the Icon cafe is closing in 15 minutes - this day didn't end until dark... We now have a truck, and it has carried 2 loads of stone. Bosco, our pastor/driver, is thrilled with this new responsibility, and WOW is he taking it seriously. This is expensive up front, but will save Beaucoup bucks in the future. We are beginning the legal channels for the operation of the orphanage - it is a laborious process, but looks very do-able. We have 5 government organizations that need to be on board to operate, the last 3 have their hands out for big fees to join. Fortunately, most of these steps are at the end of the building process. In the meantime, one of the pastors has discovered that we can apply for a tax waiver for the purchase of cement directly from the factory and, since this is our single largest expense now, the tax break would be HUGE!!! Kudos to Frank Maini for discovering this. We are now pursuing it, but it appears to be a subjective decision by just one man in the Malawi Regional Authority tax office. The GREAT news is how personally the pastors are taking the saving of money on each step of the process! Today, while several of the pastors were shoveling quarry stones off the truck, two of us went into Ndirende, and visited 4 sick people from the church. The first was Rhoda, well-known to many of you. She has been becoming progressively weaker over the last 2 months, but has been afraid to look into it further. She is a widow of 3 years, and is pretty much alone in this problem. After discussing and praying with her, she is agreeable to go to the hospital, as long as Wanda will go with her, for further testing. We need a lot of prayer for Rhoda. She has a 3-year old daughter whose future hangs in the balance. With Rhoda's progressive weakness, she is unable to do the business that she has carried on for years, and she is failing financially. Acts 3 and the church have agreed to take her under their wing for the present, offering her a low-effort job at the property. Another man was visited who is about 45 years old with a 3-month wasting illness, a powerful time of prayer was held and some vitamins were purchased, as well as providing a small amount of money for food. The church was admonished to provide food for this family. Their are young children involved. As we approached the house, the sound of heart-felt praying was evident by this man's wife, begging God for help at that moment. We were so glad that we were there to provide a temporary answer to that prayer, at least. Much more help is needed. Please pray for each of these situations. The project itself is going very well, the foundation trenches are pretty much finished, and the concrete pouring is about to begin. These are exciting and a bit anxious times. I am asking each of you to pray about your own roles in this process, if any. Love to you all!!! Rick & Wanda |
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